


A better, happier you

by Jens



Series: Aromantic Toph [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Aromantic Toph Beifong, Asexual Zuko (Avatar), Gen, M/M, Set in Canonverse, Toph Beifong and Zuko are Siblings, aro/ace solidarity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-08
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 03:41:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,605
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29289246
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jens/pseuds/Jens
Summary: Zuko needs relationship advice. Toph gives it.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), Toph Beifong & Zuko
Series: Aromantic Toph [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2033962
Comments: 8
Kudos: 103





	A better, happier you

**Author's Note:**

  * For [hiraethia](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hiraethia/gifts).



> I sent an ask like a month(?) ago about being inspired by the aro Toph & ace Zuko art and here I finally am with the finished fic.......... I'm just the slowest writer on the planet and also I kept getting distracted by my other wips (I don't even want to say out loud how many of those I have lmao). anyway. hope you like it!
> 
> title is from Giant by Matthew Good Band

Toph grew up as an only child so she doesn’t know for sure, but she thinks what she has with Zuko is what having an older brother would be like. She never did get that one-on-one field trip with him, which she will forever be a little salty about, but he is, arguably, the most important person in her life. Not that the rest of team Avatar is far behind, but. She may as well be honest about where her loyalties lie.

All that being said, when Zuko asks to talk to her, that he has something he’d like her advice on, she gets worried. They often confide in each other, yes, but this time there’s something in his tone that makes her heart jolt. He’s not hurt, she doesn’t think so at least, but you can never be sure with Zuko. One time, he broke his wrist and wouldn’t tell anyone for over a week until Toph punched him right in the broken wrist, setting the healing process back by several days. 

(Katara yelled at him, a lot, and at Toph too for good measure, even though there was no way she could have known. He has been better about telling people when he’s not doing so good since then though, which Katara counts as a personal win.)

So excuse her for being concerned. Also excuse her if she loses her patience when Zuko escorts her into the garden - _for more privacy,_ he says - and then does nothing but fidget with obvious anxiety for several minutes.

The thing about Zuko is that he sometimes needs to be coaxed into opening up. Something to do with a childhood spent in fear of speaking up about - most things, from what Toph’s gathered. Thinking about Zuko’s childhood always makes her angry and sad in equal measure so she prefers not to do it too often, but in moments like these it’s impossible not to.

“What’s up, Sparky?”

It takes another eternity for him to finally, in a voice so quiet it’s barely audible, say, “you’re- I mean. You don’t date.”

Saying she doesn’t date is, honestly, a gross simplification of the myriad of feelings she has around crushes and dating and all that. One of the great of mysteries of life, if you ask Toph, and yet nearly everyone else seems to be in the know.

But sure, she doesn’t date. “Right.”

Again he hesitates before speaking up. “Yeah, so I. Need advice.”

She raises an eyebrow. “I don’t really know how much help I can be but okay, shoot.”

“Uh. You know I’ve been dating Sokka for a while now.”

“Yeah...? That’s exactly why I’m not sure what kind of advice you’re looking for from me.”

“Okay. Good. I mean.” Zuko coughs a little and then doesn’t elaborate. Toph stifles the urge to kick him, but only barely. What _is_ it with him today?

“Just spit it out, Sparky.”

“Well, the thing is...” Zuko sounds nervous, his heart rate erratic, which means this could be something bad. Something like-

“Hold on. You’re not thinking about breaking up with Snoozles, are you? Because I _swear_ -”

“ _What?!_ Toph-”

“You may be my favourite but if you break his heart, I _will_ hurt you, don’t think I won’t.”

“No! I’m not, I love him- ah.” Zuko cuts himself off and Toph can feel him lean away from her, his heart rate going even wilder - holy fuck, he’s _embarrassed_. Toph will never let him live this down _ever_ , that’s a promise.

“Oh, you’re nervous about saying I love you for the first time? That’s cute. I wouldn’t have come to me for advice about that though.”

There’s a soft thud, like Zuko hitting his head against the table. “That’s not... fuck. This was a bad idea.”

“So if this is not about breaking up or saying I love you for the first time, what’s the problem?” Toph presses. She’s not feeling particularly charitable towards Zuko, not with how much of her time he’s already wasted.

His heartbeat quickens again. “When you’re in a relationship as an adult, there are certain... expectations. About the nature of the relationship.”

“Such as?”

“Ugh. Do I really have to say it out loud?”

“You’re the one who wanted advice so yeah, you kinda do.”

“ _Ugh_ ,” Zuko repeats with more emphasis. Then, very quietly, he adds, “...I don’t know if I want to have sex.”

Toph blinks. “Oh.”

_Oh_ , because what is she supposed to say to that? Again, she has zero experience of dating, so it’s not like this is something she would have dealt with in her own life. She can tell Zuko is worried and needs words of encouragement but, well. He may have come to the wrong person.

(Then again, if he tried to bring this up with Katara... she wouldn’t want to know something like this about her brother’s boyfriend. Aang would end up blabbing to Katara. Suki is Sokka’s ex, and while they had a perfectly amicable break up, she wouldn’t be too eager to discuss his sex life with his new boyfriend, Toph would imagine. And that’s the total number of people Zuko would feel comfortable asking for help with something like this.)

“Is that- you know what, I shouldn’t have asked, this is weird. Sorry.” Zuko’s clothes rustle as he tries to make a hasty escape. Tries to, because he doesn’t get very far; all Toph has to do is stomp her foot and Zuko’s path is blocked. Perks of being the greatest earthbender of all time, which Zuko currently seems not too happy about.

Toph rolls her eyes. “Sit down, Sparky.”

“Toph please, I’m just going to go bury myself-”

“Sit. Down.”

He does but not without grumbling. “Feel free to bury me yourself anytime.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Toph takes a few breaths, trying to collect her thoughts. The first one that comes to mind is a bit... worrisome. “Sparky. Is Snoozles trying to pressure you into something you don’t want?”

“What?! _No_ , why would you-”

“Because I will kill him if he is.”

This time Zuko sounds concerned, like he’s worried she might actually get up and go end Sokka right this moment. “ _Toph_ -”

“I’m serious.” She turns to Zuko. “I don’t give a fuck what kind of expectations there are, you should only do things you feel comfortable doing. And if Snoozles disagrees, well. He won’t be your boyfriend for long. Or alive.”

“ _Please_ stop threatening my boyfriend’s life.”

Toph snorts, then gets serious again. “Again: are you getting worried because of societal pressure or whatever? Or is Sokka the one making you feel you bad? Because if he’s the reason, then sorry, he’s as good as dead. Not even Aang can save him.”

“It’s not-it’s not him. I haven’t really talked to him yet. About this.”

“Why?”

Zuko is silent for a moment. “It’s just... he could be with someone else. Someone who wants the same things. He’s popular enough, I’m sure there are lot of people who would be happy to date him and give him everything a relationship should have.”

“How would you know what he wants out of a relationship if you haven’t even talked to him about it yet?”

“We’ve discussed previous relationships and, uh. He has experience,” Zuko admits, his voice hot with embarrassment. Which, okay, Toph doesn’t want to think about Sokka’s ‘experience’ for too long.

“So you just assume he’d want those same things with you too?”

“It’s not that unreasonable to assume, it’s kind of the norm,” he says quietly. “And I- what if he breaks up with me for it?”

“Then you’re better off without him,” she replies immediately.

“I guess.” Zuko laughs but it’s not a happy sound. “I just feel... broken, sometimes.”

Aaaaand that’s enough of that. “Do you think I’m broken?”

“...uh, what?”

“If you not wanting sex makes you broken, then I must be doubly so since I don’t want sex _or_ relationships,” she goes on. It’s been a while since she thought this way about herself and she’s not about to let Zuko go down that road if she can help it. “So? Am I broken?”

“You’re not,” Zuko replies hesitantly.

“Damn right. And if _I’m_ not broken for those things, then doesn’t it follow that _you’re_ not either?”

He makes a small, wondering sound, like he doesn’t quite believe it. It’s fine though; Toph’s dealt with similar feelings and at the start of her journey to self-acceptance she would have reacted much the same. All she does is lean a bit closer to Zuko, close enough that their arms bump together, trying to convey her support without words. He stays there, leans even closer as if trying to soak in the comfort of her touch. 

“When did you become the smartest member of team Avatar?” he wonders after a moment. She grins.

“I always was, you were just too hung up on Snoozles to appreciate my brand of genius.”

“Sure, sure.” Zuko tries to sound annoyed but there’s an undeniable undercurrent of fondness in his tone. Toph thinks, not for the first time, that this is what family should feel like. The easy affection between them, the way they understand each other, she never had that growing up. Nor did Zuko. But they do have it now, and it’s almost too much for her to handle, sometimes.

She wouldn’t trade this for the world though.

“Hey Sparky.”

“Hm?”

“I’m really happy you came to me about this.”

The way Zuko bumps his shoulder against Toph’s feels a lot like affection. “Me too.”

(Yeah, he’s her favourite.)

**Author's Note:**

> I am in love with aro Toph and with ace Zuko I got to project on my two favourite characters from atla (the perks of being aro ace i guess) so this was a lot of fun to write! 
> 
> a few things: this is a post-canon divergence where Zuko never became the Fire Lord (it's not that relevant to this piece but if I get inspired, I might write more in this verse so just putting it out there). Toph is 20-ish, Zuko's in his mid-20s
> 
> this might be revised once my beta is available again, but for now all mistakes are mine and I'm not a native English speaker so do let me know if you spot anything too horrible..... I don't trust my English sometimes
> 
> if anyone wants to talk about ideas for the aro Toph series, I'm on tumblr @[unenomainen](https://unenomainen.tumblr.com/)


End file.
